


The Lure of Mistfoxes

by Burgie



Series: JackxYdris AU [9]
Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: F/F, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-30
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2019-02-24 01:28:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13202790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: Jack thought that Halli was just fat. Turned out, she'd been getting a little too friendly with one of the male mistfoxes at Kit's place. Jack belongs to SSO-Jack-Wolfwatcher.





	The Lure of Mistfoxes

Jack made it a point to go out and see the mistfoxes every day, and Ydris made it a point to act like a spurned lover whenever Jack left. He was in his dramatic state at the moment, a hand thrown over his eyes as he leaned back in his chair.

“Oh, you are going to visit that woman again,” said Ydris, affecting the voice of a lovesick wife. “How can you do this to me, Jack, to our child?”

“Honestly, Halli’s half the reason I go,” said Jack with a shrug, looking down at his happy little fox who stood at his feet, swishing her tail. She barked and gave a little bounce, her rotund belly swaying with the movement. Ydris frowned.

“Can you get Kit to stop feeding her?” asked Ydris. “Look at her, she’s positively spherical.” Jack looked at Halli again, then laughed and bent down to pet her head.

“She’s just fluffy, since it’s winter. Not that you can tell,” said Jack, glancing out the wagon’s window to where he could see the green grass of Jorvik. There had been a few frosts, but no actual snow this year. A lot of people missed it, but that was global warming for you.

“Oh really? Have you had her on your lap recently?” asked Ydris. “She almost broke my thigh bones.” Jack gasped.

“Not your thigh bones, you need those to sit,” said Jack. “But alright, we’ll go for a run through the forest while we’re there. Might do us both some good.” He, too, had been packing on the pounds recently, due to his friend’s declaration that Christmas must be celebrated with all kinds of cakes and cookies. Maybe he should start joining Ricky for jogging sessions again.

“If you can manage to tear yourself away from the cottage, that is,” said Ydris. He flapped his hand. “But begone with you, so that I may wallow in peace.”

“If I come back to find that you’ve been writing emo poetry again, I’ll kick you in the shin,” said Jack. Ydris laughed, and he was still laughing when Jack finally walked out the door with Halli scampering along at his feet.

Halli ran ahead of Jack on the way to the cottage, the ground passing quickly beneath their feet. Jack found it hard to catch up with her, even on Dale.

“Gee, someone’s eager,” Jack muttered. “Kit’s fox cookies aren’t that good, surely.”

“I couldn’t tell you, I’m not a fox,” said Dale. He snorted. “Maybe she’s in love.” Now Jack snorted.

“And she didn’t even bring them home to meet me? Rude,” said Jack.

Kit was, as always, out the front when Jack arrived, holding two large dog bowls full of food and struggling to wade through the mass of red and grey fur.

“Need a hand?” asked Jack, dismounting Dale by the front gate and walking in. Halli was already in there, having her muzzle licked by one of the silver foxes that could only be bought with a costly one year mistfox subscription.

“Could you take one of these bowls and put it down, please?” asked Kit. “If I bend down, they might eat my face off.” She grinned, showing far too many teeth and looking far too excited at that prospect.

“Sure,” said Jack, taking one of the large metal bowls from her. He set it down, then had to carefully jump back from the swarm that suddenly descended upon the raw meat and berries. It was gone almost instantly, but fortunately, it was enough to fill the small bellies. Their bellies full, the foxes dispersed to lie in the sun and groom themselves, or to otherwise sleep or beg for attention from the new human in their midst.

“How is your fox?” asked Kit, beaming at the sight of Halli still being groomed by the silver fox.

“She’s been great,” said Jack. “She’s been getting a bit fat, but maybe we need to start going jogging together.”

“Ha, that happens a lot here,” said Kit. “I guess they really love my food.” She grinned. “And I can’t blame them, I’ve tasted the fox cookies myself and they are delicious.” Jack didn’t bat an eyelid, because of course Kit would have tasted her creations. She’d probably tasted pet food once, too.

Jack stayed at Kit’s for most of the morning, only leaving at midday when Ydris invited him out for lunch. As he left, though, he noticed that Halli’s head and tail were down, and she walked slowly. She was also panting despite the day being quite cool.

“Halli?” said Jack, frowning as he dismounted and crouched down in front of her. “What’s wrong?” Halli whined and licked his hand, and Jack could feel that she was trembling.

“Maybe you should see the vet,” said Dale. “I heard someone mention that Dr Eiren moved in with Sigry.”

“Good idea,” said Jack. He didn’t want to ask Kit, that woman might love mistfoxes but she probably didn’t know a thing about how to keep them healthy.

Jack scooped Halli up into his arms, then held her as gently as he could while she panted and he waited at the front door of the Varanger house. Rania was outside grooming her horse, plucking prickles from his mane. Jack would have winced at the thought of how she found them in the first place, but he was too busy worrying about Halli. If anything happened to her… he didn’t want to think about it. Maybe she’d eaten that bad meat? He and Rania had disposed of it all, but what if they’d missed a piece? Or worse, what if GED had returned to put out more spoiled meat? Rania looked up as Halli yelped in pain.

“Who’s there?” asked Rania, picking her cane up and holding it like she would a weapon.

“Shit, sorry, I should’ve announced myself,” said Jack. “Sorry, I’m just… I’m worried about my fox.”

“Oh, so it’s your fox that’s in labour,” said Rania, relaxing and putting the cane down. “Good, I thought one of Kit’s foxes had wandered over here to give birth under the house again.”

“I’m sorry, she’s what?” asked Jack, shock replacing his fear as suddenly as a dash of cold water.

“In labour,” Rania repeated like he was an idiot. “What, you didn’t know your fox was pregnant? I’m blind and even I knew that.”

“I thought she was just fat,” Jack whispered, looking down at Halli in a new light. “Should I put her down or-“

At that moment, the door opened, revealing the flushed face of the veterinarian.

“Oh! Hello, Jack, I didn’t expect to be seeing you again so soon,” said Dr Eiren. “What’s wrong?”

“His fox is having kits,” said Rania.

“Yeah,” said Jack, his mind still struggling to take that information in. “Like, right now.”

“Oh,” said Dr Eiren. Out of Jack’s line of sight, Rania shuddered, and Dellingr nickered in amusement at his rider’s disgust at the sound. “Well then, most wild animals give birth in the wild, but I’m assuming that this is her first litter?”

“First I know of,” said Jack. “I found her in the woods about a year or so ago, but I’ve never seen her with kits. Or any other foxes, actually, until we came to Mistfall.” He decided not to mention the fox spirit that he hung out with.

“Right, well, it’s best to be on the safe side,” said Dr Eiren. “Come on in.”

The vet led Jack into a house that he’d never been in before. Various viking artefacts hung on the walls, and the floors were wooden with decorative rugs on them, but Jack barely noticed his surroundings as Halli whined in his arms.

“I’ve set up a little clinic in here,” said Dr Eiren, closing the door behind Jack on a white-walled, sterile room that he instantly recognised as a vet clinic. The vet patted a metal table that had a sheet of paper over it. “Put her down here on her side.” Jack did so, laying Halli down gently. His fox licked his hand again, and he saw a ripple pass through her belly.

“I’m sorry, girl, I had no idea,” Jack murmured, gently stroking Halli’s neck and shoulder.

“So you probably also don’t know how long she’s been in labour,” said Dr Eiren.

“I only noticed it not long ago,” said Jack. “I was busy helping out Kit.”

“Ah, that woman,” said Dr Eiren, setting up a machine and smoothing cold gel onto Halli’s side. The fox snapped at her, growling, and Dr Eiren drew her hand away. “Try to keep her calm, please, I need to make sure the kits are alright.”

Halli whimpered while Jack stroked her ears, and he could still feel her trembling. As Jack watched, four small shapes appeared on the screen.

“They look healthy,” said Dr Eiren with a smile. “And the right size. Now, we just have to let nature take its course.”

“Are you sure?” asked Jack. “Aren’t there any, I dunno, painkillers or something? I just hate seeing her in pain.”

“She’ll be fine,” said Dr Eiren. “Labour is supposed to be painful, it helps the mother to know when to push.”

“But is there really nothing we can do?” asked Jack, his hands clenched into fists out of concern for his fox.

“We can move her somewhere comfortable,” said Dr Eiren. “Did she make a den, by any chance?”

“She might’ve made one at home,” said Jack. “But that’s all the way up on Nilmer’s Highland, I dunno if-“

“Then let’s go,” said Dr Eiren, wiping the gel off of Halli and moving the machine away. “Sigry doesn’t use her car very often, so it’s pretty much my car if I’m ever called out on an emergency or I need to go into the city.”

“I hope we have enough time,” said Jack, frowning in concern at his fox. Halli seemed to be in even more pain now, surely her kits would arrive soon.

“Oh, don’t worry, Sigry says I drive like a madwoman,” said Dr Eiren with a grin. She opened the door, then grabbed the keys from a bowl near the front door. “I’m taking the car, dear!”

“You’re paying for any damages!” Sigry called back from elsewhere in the house. Dr Eiren chuckled, then showed Jack to the car, which was an old station wagon.

Jack sat with Halli in his arms on the drive back to the highland. She was still very uncomfortable, but she still hadn’t given birth yet by the time they arrived home. Jack set her down in front of the wagon.

“Alright, Halli, go to your den,” said Jack. Halli sniffed around, then trotted up to the front door, where she scratched at it and then waited. “You’re kidding.” Halli was not kidding, not even when she trotted through the house, jumped up into the drawer where Jack kept his socks, and settled down comfortably. Dr Eiren laughed at the dumbfounded look on Jack’s face

“Well, this is different,” said Dr Eiren, looking around at her surroundings. “But it’s actually quite common for pet foxes to give birth in places that their humans would rather them not. Kit has found several litters in clothesbaskets, even one in her washing machine. That was not a pleasant period for anyone involved.” She wrinkled her nose up at the imagined stench, not that she’d been there to smell it herself.

But all Jack could do was stare at Halli.

Hours later, Jack was still watching as the last little black fox kit slid out, and Halli turned to clean it. It had been a messy process, but it was over now, and Halli was the proud mother of four fox kits. She was also quite exhausted.

“Well, other than being tired, she and the kits are all healthy,” said Dr Eiren after giving them all a careful looking-over. “If anything else happens, or you want to have her spayed, you know where to find me.”

“Thanks,” said Jack, giving her a smile. Ydris appeared, all dramatic, out of the shadows.

“How much do we owe you?” asked Ydris. Dr Eiren, to her credit, didn’t even flinch at the magician’s sudden appearance.

“I’ll send you your bill in the mail,” said Dr Eiren. “Much as I’d love to offer my services for free, Sigry insists that I get paid or she’ll hunt you down for it.”

“Christ, don’t ever piss that one off,” said Jack. Dr Eiren laughed.

“I do value my life,” said Dr Eiren. “Well, good luck with the kits, and, like I said, call or visit if you ever need anything.”

“We will,” said Jack. “Thank you for helping us out.”

“It was my pleasure,” said Dr Eiren, and left.

After she’d gone, Jack gazed at the picture before him in amazement. Though his socks were now covered in blood and birthing fluids, as well as some milk that escaped the kits’ mouths, Jack found that he quite frankly did not give a shit about a few dirty socks.

“We are definitely naming one Socks,” said Ydris.

“Does this make me a grandfather now?” asked Jack, unable to tear his eyes away from Halli and her kits. The mother slept soundly while the kits gorged themselves on milk, as kits were wont to do.

“I think it makes us grandparents, yes,” said Ydris. “And we’re not even married yet. We should get onto that.”

“I think the father is a silver mistfox,” said Jack. “I saw one licking her face earlier. Maybe he’ll show up, apparently foxes make happy little family units.”

“I’m sure you’d love that,” said Ydris. Jack chuckled.

“Well, if one is silver, that one can be Socks,” said Jack. Ydris nodded, and they both sat together, on the bed, watching the mother and her kits.


End file.
